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Kobo Mini Finally in Stock at Best Buy (US)

One of Kobo’s new ereaders is now available on the Best Buy website (just one). If this is any sign of Kobo’s general ability to get product out the door then it seems incredibly unlikely that they will ever be a serious challenge to Amazon.

A couple weeks back I was the first to post the surprising news that Kobo was releasing their new ereaders to retail partners in the UK and Canada before listing the devices on their own website. Later that week Kobo confirmed what I would describe as a snafu when they announced this news themselves.

A number of my readers defended Kobo’s error by claiming that it was a deliberate decision to forgo the sales of the US market as well as the rest of the world. One insisted that Kobo didn’t want to compete with their UK and Canadian retail partners (LOL). Now it looks like those claims don’t stand up.

I’ve just learned over on MobileRead Forums that the Kobo Mini, Kobo’s 5″ ereader, is now available via Best Buy. This ereader is still not available on the Kobo website (nor have I found it on the website of any other US retailer), so I consider myself to be very luck that at least a very small part of Kobo’s distribution Fubar has been resolved.

I ordered one, and it is due to arrive in the next couple days.

While we are on the topic of Kobo’s ereaders, you might be wondering if or when Best Buy might have the Kobo Glo. I checked and their system does not have an expected delivery date. They have no idea when they will get the ereader and that kinda prevents them from telling us when we can buy it.

And there’s no news on when Kobo will have their own products to sell. I did check a couple weeks back and they too embarrassed to be able to respond with a date for when their own ereaders will show up on their own website. They weren’t even willing to give a general time frame on the release. (Actually, I asked about "the rest of the world", but that comes to the same point.) Whoops.

In any case, if you were hoping to get one of the new gadgets you’re going to have to wait at least a while longer.

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Comments


fjtorres October 14, 2012 um 7:03 pm

Well, in Kobo’s defense, their primary competition isn’t really Amazon.
Rather, their first line competitors are the other ePub ebook vendors; B&N, Google, Fictionwise, BoB, Diesel, etc. Against that field (and the other ePub reader vendors–Nook, Sony, etc–they are doing okay.
Faint praise, I know, but at least they are reading the market correctly, even if their execution may leave a bit to desire. 😉


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